Products made from base webs such as bath tissues, facial tissues, paper towels, industrial wipers, foodservice wipers, napkins, medical pads, and other similar products are designed to include several important properties. For example, the products should have a soft feel and, for most applications, should be highly absorbent. The products should also have good stretch characteristics and should resist tearing. Further, the products should also have good strength characteristics, should be abrasion resistant, and should not deteriorate in the environment in which they are used.
In the past, many attempts have been made to enhance and increase certain physical properties of such products. Unfortunately, however, when steps are taken to increase one property of these products, other characteristics of the products may be adversely affected. For instance, the softness of nonwoven products, such as various paper products, can be increased by several different methods, such as by selecting a particular fiber type, or by reducing cellulosic fiber bonding within the product. Increasing softness according to one of the above methods, however, may adversely affect the strength of the product. Conversely, steps normally taken to increase the strength of a fibrous web typically have an adverse impact upon the softness, the stiffness or the absorbency of the web.
The present invention is directed to improvements in base webs and to improvements in processes for making the webs in a manner that optimizes the physical properties of the webs. In particular, the present invention is directed to a process for improving the tactile properties, such as softness and stiffness, of base webs without severely diminishing the strength of the webs.
As stated above, the present invention is directed to further improvements in prior art constructions and methods, which are achieved by providing a process for producing base webs, namely base webs containing pulp fibers. The process includes the steps of first forming a base web. The base web can be made from various fibers and can be constructed in various ways. For instance, the base web can contain pulp fibers and/or staple fibers. Further, the base web can be formed in a wet-lay process, an air-forming process, or the like.
Once the base web is formed, the web is subjected to shear forces sufficient to improve the softness properties of the web. For instance, in one embodiment the web is placed in between a first moving conveyor and a second moving conveyor. The first and second moving conveyors are then guided around a shear-inducing roll while the base web is positioned in between the conveyors. The conveyors are sufficiently wrapped around the shear-inducing roll and are placed under a sufficient amount of tension so as to create shear forces that act upon the base web. The shear forces disrupt the web increasing the softness and decreasing the stiffness of the web. Of particular advantage, it has been discovered that the softness of the web is increased without substantially reducing the strength of the web. More particularly, it has been discovered that the process shifts the normal strength-softness curve so as to create webs having unique softness and strength properties.
When guided around the shear-inducing roll, the base web should have a moisture content of less than about 10%, particularly less than about 5%, and more particularly less than about 2%.
The shear-inducing roll can rotate or can be a stationary device. For most applications, the shear-inducing roll should have a small effective diameter, such as less than about 10 inches, particularly less than about 7 inches and more particularly from about 2 inches to about 6 inches. For most applications, the conveyors should be wrapped around the shear-inducing roll at least 30xc2x0 and particularly from about 50xc2x0 to about 270xc2x0. Further, the amount of tension placed upon the conveyors when wrapped around the shear-inducing roll should be at least 5 pounds per linear inch and particularly from about 10 pounds per linear inch to about 50 pounds per linear inch.
Various types of base webs can be processed according to the present invention. For example, in one embodiment, the base web can be a stratified web including a middle layer positioned between a first outer layer and a second outer layer. In one embodiment, the outer layers can have a tensile strength greater than the middle layer. For example, the outer layers can be made from softwood fibers, while the middle layer can be made from hardwood fibers.
Alternatively, the middle layer can have a tensile strength greater than the outer layers. It has been discovered by the present inventors that various unique products can be formed when using stratified base webs as described above.
The present inventors have discovered that the process of the present invention produces unique products having improved softness characteristics. In particular, it has been discovered that base webs made according to the present invention have improved void-volume properties and fuzz-on-edge properties. In this regard, the present invention is directed to a paper product that includes a nonwoven base web containing pulp fibers. The base web has a void volume greater than 12 g/g. Further, base webs made according to the present invention can have the above void-volume levels even at basis weights greater than 20 gsm, particularly greater than 25 gsm, and more particularly greater than 30 gsm.
The void volume properties of base webs made according to the present invention can also be improved without substantially decreasing the tensile strength of the webs. For example, base webs having a void volume greater than 12 g/g, can also have a geometric mean tensile strength of greater than about 170 g/in.
Besides dramatically improving the void volume of base webs, the process of the present invention also improves the fuzz-on-edge properties of the base web. In general, the fuzz-on-edge test measures the amount of fibers present on the surface of the web that are generally aligned in the z-direction. The degree of xe2x80x9cfuzzinessxe2x80x9d of a web has also been measured in a test referred to as a xe2x80x9cperimeter per edge lengthxe2x80x9d test as described in European Application No. 0 539 703 which is incorporated herein by reference. A greater fuzz-on-edge generally indicates a softer web. It has been found that base webs made according to the present invention can have a fuzz-on-edge in an amount greater than 2.2 mm/mm, and particularly greater than 2.5 mm/mm.
Base webs having the above properties can be single-ply base webs made according to various processes. For example, in one embodiment, the base web can be an uncreped, through-air-dried base web. Alternatively, the base web can be dried on a yankee dryer and creped.
Base webs processed according to the present invention can have various applications and uses. In one particular embodiment, base webs made according to the present invention can be single ply base webs particularly well suited for use as a bath tissue. Beside bath tissues, however, the base webs can also be used and incorporated into facial tissues, paper towels, industrial wipers, foodservice wipers, napkins, medical pads, diapers, feminine-hygiene products, and other similar products.
Other features and aspects of the present invention are discussed in greater detail below.